Tupper Lake voting stations moved

February 11, 2013

MALONE - Franklin County election officials are consolidating voting sites, which means everyone in Tupper Lake will vote in the same place for the next election.

In recent years, voting in Tupper Lake has been spread out between places like the Aaron Maddox Hall, Ivy Terrace and Don Smith's Apartments. But county Election Commissioners Veronica King and Kelly Cox told county legislators last week that they are moving all voting in Tupper Lake to the former Holy Ghost Academy, a former elementary school that's largely empty now.

King and Cox said consolidating voting sites will cut down on the resources needed for each election.

"It will cut down on our poll workers, too, by consolidating a lot," Cox said.

Tupper Lake's county legislator, Paul Maroun, said he thinks the new location is a good idea, since it's accessible to people with handicaps, and it's a large, empty building with plenty of room for the voting booths to accommodate all six election districts in town.

County officials are shifting voting in other towns in the county as well:

Bellmont districts 1 and 2 will vote together at the Town Justice Building.

Chateaugay districts 1 and 2 will be at the Chateaugay Village Office.

Fort Covington districts 1, 2 and 3 will be together at the fire station in Fort Covington.

Election officials are waiting to hear from Moira after the town's Tuesday board meeting to see if the board will approve the Board of Election use of the Moira town highway garage for both districts.

Legislators are still working on finding a place for everyone in Malone to vote, but they're having trouble deciding on a location.